


The Guardians of New York

by Koscy



Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series), The Unsleeping City
Genre: 10 years post-epilogue, Campaign 03 Season 02: The Unsleeping City Chapter II, Gen, Magical kids being supportive of their friends, Post The Unsleeping City Chapter II Epilogue, mentions of transphobic bullying, mild swearing by kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 07:07:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30085335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Koscy/pseuds/Koscy
Summary: (10 years after the epilogue:)"WHO DARE ENTERS THE LAIR OF THE GUARDIAN DRAGON OF NEW YORK CITY?" Langston shouts in his most fearsome voice as he hears voices coming near the entrance to his lair."It is I! Cat Lee! Guardian Angel of New York, who humbly asks to enter your lair, oh Great Guardian Dragon!" Cat shouts in response, curtsying dramatically at the end."Hey Langston, it's Al. Do we really have to do this every time? You know it's us, can't you just let us in?" The other girl next to Cat, Al, shouts as her reply, trying to look more annoyed than she actually felt."Yes, Al, you do! It's good practice for me in case adventurers come to my lair trying to slay me or looking for a quest! Now state your full title like we practiced!"
Relationships: Langston Brown & Al Matsui & Cat Lee
Comments: 14
Kudos: 51





	The Guardians of New York

**Author's Note:**

> This is my take on what the three children of the Dream Team would be like as 12/13-year-olds, I hope you enjoy! The rating is for mild cursing.
> 
> (I haven't been around 12 and 13-year-olds in a while and am not from NYC so if their characterization is completely off from how teenaged New Yorkers would act, I'm sorry)

"WHO DARE ENTERS THE LAIR OF THE GUARDIAN DRAGON OF NEW YORK CITY?" Langston shouts in his most fearsome voice as he hears voices coming near the entrance to his lair.

"It is I! Cat Lee! Guardian Angel of New York, who humbly asks to enter your lair, oh Great Guardian Dragon!" Cat shouts in response, curtsying dramatically at the end.

"Hey Langston, it's Al. Do we really have to do this every time? You know it's us, can't you just let us in?" The other girl next to Cat, Al, shouts as her reply, trying to look more annoyed than she actually felt.

"Yes, Al, you do! It's good practice for me in case adventurers come to my lair trying to slay me or looking for a quest! Now state your full title like we practiced!"

"Ugh, fine! And I, Al Matsui, Guardian Wizard of New York, who humbly asks to enter your lair, oh Great Guardian Dragon!" She said that last part with more sarcasm than necessary, Langston thinks, but he is still satisfied.

"You may enter, my friends and Guardians of New York!" Langston shouts in excitement and then runs back to the blanket fort he and his friends built as their hideout. He sinks into his recliner chair.

Now with the entrance ceremony completed, Cat runs in excitedly and jumps bodily onto a purple bean bag chair with a cat face, completely splayed out. Al stays by the entrance, taking out a thin wire with a small bell tied to it. She sets up a tripwire in front of the entrance, steps inside the lair, moves her hand in the shape of a circle, and then slashes her hand through saying, "No trespassers! Only the Guardians of New York allowed!" Magic settles onto the wire as those words are spoken. Satisfied with her spell, Al runs to the fort to join her friends, sitting on her cushioned rolling desk chair.

"Okay!" Cat exclaims as she lays on her bean bag chair, "The Guardians of New York are now gathered! So how has everyone's week been? Lisa Alioto tried to trip me during soccer practice again, totally twisted her ankle." Cat shakes her head slowly. "That girl will never learn. She really hates me."

"Yeah you would think that after four years of playing soccer together she would have learned that nothing can make you fall, even if she can't see through the Umbral Arcana," Al says, moving around the room on her chair, lazily casting dancing lights and changing their colors.

"I think at this point she sees it as a challenge, it's gone on for so long I think she just can't stop. Which is fine with me, watching her faceplant is funny!" As she says this, Cat goes into a handstand, walks on her hands a bit, then feigns falling, her spectral wings catching her so she lands on her feet. She does a dramatic bow and Al claps at the display. Then the two girls turn to Langston, realizing he hasn't been engaging in the conversation at all.

"Hey, Langston, you okay? What's up?" Al asks softly.

Langston looks up suddenly as if pulled from his mind and sees his friends staring at him. "What? Oh, um, well..." He stays silent for a bit, and the girls sit there patiently, waiting for him to continue. With a sigh, he says, "I got in trouble at school again. Billy Blake and his gang were messing with Annie again. Misgendering her, call her by her dead name, just being complete assholes! So I got in there and told them to leave her alone. Billy pushed me back and was about it kick Annie, so I push him and his friends away from her."

Langston is fully curled in on himself sitting in his recliner as he shares his story. Al and Cat look at each other, and then Al says slowly, "Now when you say you pushed them away?"

Langston sighs and says, "Yeah, I used my roar. I didn't mean to! But they were hurting Annie and being mean and I couldn't just do nothing!"

"How did the Umbral Arcana hide it? What did the kids and teacher think happened?" Al was always curious about how the Umbral Arcana worked.

"The teacher told my parents that I pushed Billy really hard into the other boys, making them all fall over. And of course, the teacher only saw that part, not the part when all of them were bullying Annie, so even when both Annie and I told them about the bullying, I was the only one that got detention. My mom was able to talk the school down from suspending me, but I have a whole week of detention! For defending my friend from bullies! And they get no punishment at all just because the stupid teacher didn't see them! It's total bullshit!" As Langston shouts that last word, it reverberates throughout the tunnels, and Cat and Al can feel their friend's anger fuming out of him.

"That is total bullshit! Do you know where Billy and his friends hang out on the weekends? Let's go there and beat them up! If adults won't punish them, the Guardians of New York will!" Cat exclaims, flying from her excitement at the possibility of beating up bullies.

"I think they usually shoot hoops at the playground, but that's pretty public, and last time we beat up bullies in a public place all of our parents got upset and all like, 'You can't beat people up in public, you can't use magic in public, hurting people that hurt you won't stop the hurt, blah blah blah,' even though they all do that stuff all the time. Total hypocrites!" Langston says, exacerbated.

"Well, what about Annie?" Al says and her two friends stare at her, confused. "What if we went and hung out with Annie, made sure she's okay and that she has a fun weekend. Uncle Pete and Aunt Maddie have told us how hard it can be for kids like her to make friends and feel accepted, and being guardians isn't just about beating up bad guys, it's also about supporting those who need it. Do you have her number, Langston?"

Langston thinks for a moment and then says, "Oh yeah, we worked on a project last semester, let me call her! That's a great idea, Al!" He pulls out his phone, finds Annie's number, and calls her. A timid voice picks up, "Um, hello? Langston?"

"Hey Annie, my friends and I were planning to hang out today, and I wanted to know if you'd want to join us, are you free?"

"Um, well...you really wanna hang out with me?"

"Of course! And my friends wanna meet you! They're both really nice!"

Cat whisper-shouts to Langston, "Invite her to Fairyland! Let's go to Fairyland!"

"Yeah, we were gonna go to Fairyland, that amusement park in Queens, we can pick you up and bring you with us, if you want," Langston asks, feeling nervous though he's not sure why.

"Um, yeah, sure that would be great, thanks, Langston!"

They confirm a meeting spot, and then the Guardians of New York leave their hideout, meet up with Annie, and have a wonderful day of amusement and whimsy.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think! Kudos and comments give me life! Do you want more adventures of the trio? If so, give me ideas!


End file.
